COMPANY NEWS New Pepsi Drink Contains Only One Calorie epsi One, a new drink by Pepsi- Diet Market Share Sugared Market Share P Cola Company, contains only one calorie. Pepsi-Cola Company announced 30% 78% the introduction of this drink minutes 28 after the FDA approved a new sugar- 76 substitute, acesulfame potassium. 26 74 The Pepsi-Cola Company said that Pepsi One, created specifically for the US 24 72 market, delivers the ideal offering for consumers who want it all — great cola taste with only one calorie. The drink 22 70 1990 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 1990 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 contains two sweeteners — acesulfame potassium and aspartame. Source: Beverage Digest "Anyone who used to think they were compromising taste by drinking a diet be taken off the market in the near future to use acesulfame potassium (also known soda will be blown away by the great because they "did not want to sacrifice as Sunett) in the US. new taste of Pepsi One," said Philip A that business or what they (the con- Marineau, President and CEO of Pepsi- In an interview with reporters, M Douglas sumers) want." Cola North America. Ivester, Coke's chairman and chief exe- A sizeable campaign to launch the brand cutive, called Diet Coke a "very powerful "Pepsi One will redefine the image of is impending and Pepsi agency PPDO brand" in the US and said he has no plans diet colas and revolutionize the entire soft Worldwide is developing radio and TV to reformulate the drink. drink market." ads to start in November. The new drink "It makes a lot of sense for Pepsi to intro- He added that Pepsi One is much closer should be in the stores in October. duce a new product and for Coke to do in taste to Pepsi than Diet Pepsi. None- Spokesmen for other soft-drink com- nothing," said Mark Cohen, an analyst at theless, Diet Pepsi has a loyal following, panies said they have no immediate plans Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Mr. Marineau said that it would not "Every new product brings exciting opportunity and some incremental volume for Pepsi, but for Coke, the market leader, it's prudent to be careful and monitor consumer interest." Still, several analysts maintained that Coke will come out with a new product before long. "If Pepsi One is a success, then you can expect Coke Light," said Emmanuel Goldman, a beverage analyst with Paine Webber. "As an industry leader, you don't give your competitor an opportunity to make any inroads," said Michael Bellas, chair- man of Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York consultancy firm. "It's not any sweat off Coke's back to match Pepsi One." 242 APBN • Vol. 2 • Nos. 13 & 14 • 1998 China Produces FDA Approves New Own Growth Sweetener for Diet Drinks Hormone he Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new noncaloric he Jinsai Drugs Co. Ltd. T sugar substitute for diet drinks. Known as acesulfame potassium, or T is producing the more commonly as Sunett, the sweetener is already sold in other countries human growth hormone that has long by Coca-Cola Co., and Pepsi-Cola Company. been manufactured in countries other than The sweetener, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar, was also previously China. The drug is called ‘Jinlei sheng- approved in the US for a variety of edible products from chewing gum to zhangsu’ and has been cough drops. Soda companies using it in other markets have seen an increase approved by the Ministry of Health in in sales. In Britain, where Coke and Pepsi use acesulfame potassium and China. aspartame, the volume of diet drinks last year grew at twice the rate of the Dwarfism is defined as having body industry, according to Beverage Digest, an industry publication. height less than 1.3m as an adult and Pepsi-Cola Company has jumped at the news, saying it will launch a new 1.40 – 1.50m for low body height. 'breakthrough' one-calorie drink called Pepsi One, a blend of both acesulfame According to incomplete statistics in potassium and aspartame (commonly known as Nutrasweet). Beijing and Shanghai, this accounts for "This (approval) could be a boon for the business — there's a massive 1%–1.3% of the population in the same palate fatigue out there and consumers are waiting for something new to age group. The growth hormone has stimulate them," said Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark LLC, a New York always been imported from abroad and consulting firm. has always been very expensive, costing about RMB150 000 (US$ 18 120) per Diet soda sales in the US have been steadily falling over the last eight child. years, with a showing of 30% in 1990 to 22.9% last year, according to Beverage Digest. The sugared drinks market share on the other hand has The growth hormone is a multi-functional been on a steady increase. protein that is secreted by the anterior lobe of the human pituitary gland. It "There are a thousand theories on that," said John D Sicher, publisher of works by promoting growth through the the digest, "but certainly one reason is that there has not been much news cartilage cells enhancing the growth of in the diet soft drink company." muscles and bones, while the shift of lipid Analysts predict the newly-approved sweetener will have a major impact metabolism tends to be in the opposite on the US$55 billion United States carbonated drinks industry and the direction. The growth hormone contri- announcement of Pepsi-Cola Company to launch its new drink seemed to butes to the breakdown of fat at the same confirm that. time that the child is using more calories for the growth of bone muscle and other "Innovation is good," said Jennifer Solomon, an analyst with Saloman tissues. The growth hormone can also be Smith Barney. "I am glad to see that they are focusing innovation on major used to treat brain shrinkage, burns and categories and not dilly-dallying in sectors that don't have significant the minus nitrogen equilibrium due to volume." heavy infections. Jinlei shengzhangsu is Mr. Marineau is confident that Pepsi One can draw non-Diet Pepsi drinkers produced by using the ‘secretion type and bring back people who have stopped drinking diet drinks. He based his expression technique.’ This has an overall optimism on the summer test results of the drink and said that they were effect of being more effective with greater the best the company has seen in 20 years. biological activity than that of the hor- mone that is manufactured abroad. APBN • Vol. 2 • Nos. 13 & 14 • 1998 243 COMPANY NEWS Network Diagnosis on Taiwan Sugar Corp. the Increase Commercializes Production n 1991, Secom set up a computer of C. sinensis I network to help diagnosis of patients living in remote areas of Japan. The company ran into conflict with doctors, ordyceps sinensis (C. sinensis) , also known as the caterpillar who saw the idea of a private company C fungus, is a traditional Chinese fungus used commonly in medical getting into the diagnostics business inter- practices. Since ancient times it has been hailed as one of the most effective fering in the final diagnosis of the patient. cures for many illnesses. C. sinensis is especially effective in stimulating In order to win the trust of the medical the immune system and in fighting tumors. This fungus is much sought profession, Secom has assured doctors after since it is rare in nature. Medical experts caution against imitations that the ultimate decision of diagnosis of the fungus that are available in the market. rests not with Secom but the doctors The Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) is known for themselves. producing high-quality C. sinensis by the application of biotechnology to Hospi-net was then set up to serve their culture method. In order to commercialize the production of the medical institutions in remote areas that fungus, TSC and other enterprises such as Da'an Industrial Technology are equipped with MRI and CT scanners. Research Institute (ITRI) and Grape King Corp. have provided Images are transmitted to Hospi-net both capital and technological input to develop biotechnological methods where they are analyzed by a team of of producing the fungus. After three years of collaborative research, the medical specialists. Results are transmit- Chemical Industrial Institute of ITRI and Dachun Foodstuffs designed ted via fax within 24 hours and sent back special fermentation grooves and made other technical improvements to to the respective institutions. Previous existing culturing methods, such as lowering shearing forces, increasing wait times for diagnosis consisted of the amount of dissolved oxygen, and preparing a successful culture medium monthly visits to the hospital from the for culturing C. sinensis. As a result, they managed to culture pure strains physician. The medical team of three of the fungus rapidly in the fermentation grooves. Researchers indicated people at Secom now handles around 240 that the average daily yield from the fermentation grooves is 1 ton, which – 250 diagnostic images per day. How- is equivalent to 20 000 C. sinensis. ever, concerns from hospitals and clinics According to TSC, studies have found that there is no significant difference have found the Secom service too expen- between their product and C. sinensis found in the wild, i.e. the active sive and reductions in the number of components like polysaccharides, vitamins, amino acids and mineral salts outpatients seen. Secom has suggested are similar in both. Apparently, TSC's product yielded high-quality mycelia that Hospi-net be used to contract out which does not contain lignified tissues and produces a sweet fragrance.